The Tuesday Toxin Talk

I'm currently reading Slow Death by Rubber Duck, by Rick Smith (Executive Director of Environmental Defence) and Bruce Lourie (President of the Ivey Foundation). The book examines the toxins that leach out of commonplace items in our homes and workplaces and wind up in our bodies. Smith and Lourie experiment on themselves, purposely exposing themselves to everyday products over a four-day period, and use the results to raise awareness about the dangers that surround us. I'd like to use this space every few Tuesdays to share some of this vital information with you. For more in-depth coverage, please buy the book!

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Let's talk about bisphenol A.

By now, I suspect all of you have at least heard of bisphenol A, or BPA, and most of you are aware of its toxic legacy. Since 70% of BPA is produced for use in hard, clear plastics, it comes as no surprise that we can find it in everything: medical supplies, water cooler jugs, CDs and DVDs, eyeglass lenses, laptop and smartphone screens, drinking glasses, hockey helmet visors, water bottles, vehicle headlights, kitchen appliances and utensils, baby bottles and water bottles, and scariest of all, the interior lining of tin cans that contaminates the food we eat.

Scientific testing has linked BPA with breast cancer, prostate cancer, learning disabilities, type-2 diabetes, and infertility. But did you know that scientists discovered its hormone-disrupting properties way back in the 1930s, i.e. 80 years ago? I'm not surprised that they initially believed the BPA would remain locked into the plastic or leach out only very slowly. However, it's shocking that they didn't continually test this theory and confirm that in fact, BPA is toxic even at very low levels. There is practically no safe level of exposure.

In 2008, Canada banned the import, sale, and advertising of baby bottles containing BPA. Two years later, BPA was placed on the Canadian Toxic Substances List, making Canada first in the world to declare the chemical as toxic. This is a great start, but we're not safe just yet. Rick Smith, who wrote the chapter on BPA, suggests the following:

• When puzzling over the small recycling numbers on the bottom of plastic containers, remember this mantra: 4, 5, 1, and 2; all the rest are bad for you.


• Find alternative uses for plastic baby bottles and replace them with glass ones.


• Eat fresh or frozen food or food stored in glass bottles instead of canned foods, especially for food high in acidity like tomatoes.


• Avoid putting plastic containers in the microwave, and if using cling wrap, keep it out of direct contact with the food.


• Use cloth or canvas bags instead of plastic bags for shopping.

Please share any other tips for avoiding BPA in the comments section below! This post marks the end of the Tuesday Toxin Talk series on my blog, as I have written about all seven of the nasty chemicals covered in Slow Death by Rubber Duck. I hope these posts have been as useful to you as they were to me while researching and writing them. Some days I wish I didn't know how dangerous everyday objects are, but mostly I'm glad to be aware of the threats and ways to avoid them.


Image of chemical structure of bisphenol A sourced from Wikimedia Commons.
Photo of BPA-free water bottles used under Creative Commons from ZRecs (flickr).

The Mystery of the Dirty Dishes, Chapter 3

Today I'm happy to report I've made some headway on the dishwasher mystery:

Sure, the cracks look terrible, but it's clean!

Compare this new result to my initial disaster (if you're unfamiliar with the mystery so far, check out Chapter 1 and Chapter 2):

Ew. Ew ew ew.

So here's what I did: I filled the main detergent cup with Cascade and the second one with Natureclean, then added white vinegar as a rinse aid. I'm still a little disappointed with the cutlery but am happy that my mug with tea stains has become a mug with mere memories of tea. Sure, it's not sparkling, but I have multiple fancy tea cups that I only ever wash by hand for discerning guests.

Coincidentally, the New York Times just ran an article about low-phosphate detergents. Not a particularly friendly one, either, singling out disgruntled whiners while conveniently ignoring everyone who has had great results with eco brands. Also, the author made statements about people choosing traditional products because of how unappealing it is to make personal sacrifices for the sake of the environment, rather than how switching to healthier options points to how much we've been sacrificing nature for so long.

Subsequently, people voiced there opinions. Lots of them did. And they were angry. Please read the article and the comments and perhaps leave a few comments of your own below this post.

The Mystery of the Dirty Dishes, Chapter 2

(To get caught up on the story, read Chapter 1 here).

Another load in the dishwasher, this time using tried-and-true Cascade, and... uh-oh...

Lacking a professional camera and photography skills, you probably can't see what's wrong with the green mug. It has this grey film all along the inside, corresponding to where the tea was when the mug was full. It actually looked dirtier coming out of the dishwasher than going in.

This mug had more obvious issues: not only is the inside clearly not white (again, a handwash may not necessarily remove the brown tinge, but a dishwasher ought to) but there are specs of... something? ... all along the rim. Caked on, I should point out. I attempted to scrape them away with my fingernails, to no avail. This is probably food residue from the plates and bowls that once again came out just fine. If only it was a bottom rack vs. top rack discrepancy, then at least I could conclusively determine the problem. Unfortunately other items in the top alongside the mugs (small plates, bowls) emerge clean and shiny, and while plates do well in the bottom, nearby spoons and knives suffer in the cutlery basket (at least, last time). Which reminds me to update you that the knives and mug I pictured in Chapter 1 were very easily cleaned in the sink once discovered to be dirty after their time in the dishwasher.

So I'm stumped. I was hoping that using a big-name commercial brand would help sort things out. Namely, if everything turned out perfectly, I could blame Natureclean and possibly try out some other green detergents until I found one tough enough to get the job done without having to sacrifice human and environmental health. Alternatively, if this most recent load came out with equally poor results, I would assume the machine itself is really ineffective. We already know it gets an F grade for energy use!

Sadly, the results are hard to analyze. Cascade "rinses away residue, leaves dishes sparkling", in theory, and sort of managed that with most of my dishes, but not with others. Compared to Natureclean, it did much better with cutlery but had a similarly disappointing outcome with mugs. It also made the whole apartment artificially smell like lemons and irritate my nose, like a mild version of wasabi-burn (not a comforting thought considering I was merely inhaling it, not ingesting it).

Being a total novice when it comes to dishwashers - we had one growing up but used it only when more than two guests came over for dinner and we used fancy dishes - I feel very underqualified to assess the situation. Is it normal for the occasional crumb of food not to rinse away but rather to end up on other dishes? To the extent that I can't flick away those little bits with my nails? Is it okay if my mugs are stained, when those stains come out easily with a quick hand wash later? From an environmental perspective, I don't want to resort to commercial gels or powders, but I also don't want to have to waste more energy and water than I already am by washing some items in the sink. I just don't know how to avoid it. Do I throw in the towel and ask the landlord to call in a technician to take a look? Do I need to start experimenting with rinse aid? Should I attempt washing the mugs in the bottom rack? So many questions!

Do you have any ideas or suggestions?

The Mystery of the Dirty Dishes, Chapter 1

I pulled this mug out of the dishwasher this morning. Not exactly clean. Stains from tea are hard to get out by hand without a good abrasive pad, but they should be no trouble for a dishwasher. And check out these knives:

It may be hard to see because of the light reflecting off of the metal, but they look like they've been recently licked clean, and I'm betting at least one would test positive for Nutella. Strangely, the plates and bowls seemed fine - or maybe it's just harder to tell? And then there were a few spots on the inside of the door that looked like droplets of tea from when I placed the mugs in the top rack, which I could easily wipe clean with a moist cloth and very little pressure. Mysterious. Let me start at the beginning.

My partner and I moved to a new place a few weeks ago. Back when we were on the apartment hunt, one of the selling points for this place were the en-suite washer and dryer. No longer do I have to avoid the laundry room on Sundays and Mondays because it's at capacity! No longer do I have to live in fear of strangers touching my freshly cleaned clothes if I don't show up within two minutes after the end of the cycle! Now I can choose to always run the machines after 9 pm to save on electricity instead of planning my laundry chores around others! It's heaven, I tell you!

But I digress. The washer/dryer are lovely, and the dishwasher is just bonus. Generally speaking, I enjoy washing dishes by hand; there is something meditative about this simple act, and my hands enjoy being in warm water. Unfortunately, it's actually more energy- and water-efficient to run a dishwasher, especially if, like me, you have a tendency of doing a quick hand wash after each meal, i.e. do many small loads throughout the day, rather than loading up the dishwasher and running it only once full. BC Hydro presents some interesting tips to make either method more efficient.

Unfortunately, what with results like those depicted above, I'm being doubly inefficient by first using my landlord-purchased, standard-efficiency Maytag Performa (note how the name sneakily implies it performs well), then hand washing my still-dirty mugs and cutlery in the sink. Wait... did I say "standard-efficiency"? Let me be clear: are you familiar with the EnerGuide labels that point out on a sliding scale how much energy your appliances use? The Performa is less than 1 cm from the "uses most energy" side of the scale. That's right, it will use an estimated 685 kWh per year. The scale ends at 698 kWh. So let's just call it ultra-low-efficient.

Back to the story: the very first time I ran the dishwasher, I encountered similar results to today's. Being the good researcher that I am, I needed to replicate the findings as proof that this wasn't some fluke outcome. Sadly it keeps happening, now three times in a row, despite using the "temp boost" and "extended wash" options this most recent time. What's going on? My partner suggests the culprit is the dishwasher liquid:

Natureclean Automatic Dishwasher Gel, which looks like gooey apple cider, smells totally neutral, and promises to remove food stains "without those toxic chemical fumes wafting through your kitchen and nasty chemical residue left on your dishes". I bought it because it's biodegradable and free of phosphates (which pollute our lakes and rivers), phosphate replacements (which also pollute our lakes and rivers), chlorine, perfumes, and dyes (all of which pollute us, the people eating off those freshly cleaned plates). I also like Natureclean because they're Canadian, their bottles are made from post-consumer recycled plastic, they don't include animal byproducts in any of their products, and they don't use animal testing during product development. But what does that matter if their dishwasher gel doesn't work?

Time to geek out, research-style, and get to the bottom of the problem. My partner wants to run the next load with dishwasher liquid from a big name brand, I want to try a different non-toxic brand, and the internet wants me to mix my own! Stay tuned for the results...

Passing the savings on to the consumer... or not...

Are you as confused as I am about this whole eco-fee drama? Have you, like me, heard snippets of your colleagues' conversations, read the occasional newspaper headline over your fellow transit riders' shoulders, and found yourself a bit muddled? Well sit back and relax while I do some research and figure this out.


Okay, here's the low-down: on July 1, new eco-fees came into effect in my (current) home province of Ontario, essentially taxing household products that contain toxic ingredients in order to offset the cost of safely discarding said products and their packaging. This happened very quietly because media coverage was much more partial to the implementation of the new Harmonized Sales Tax in Ontario and British Columbia, which took effect on the same day. Then on Monday, we heard that Canadian Tire will no longer be charging the fees because they've had a tough time determining how much to charge (due to inconsistencies between products) and feel the program isn't being well-handled.


One day after the news broke, the Environment Minister scrapped the fee, announcing the program would be reviewed over the next 90 days, and in the meantime, taxes will cover the bill. A lot of fingers are being pointed at Stewardship Ontario, who came up with the plan. The issue is that it's not necessarily a good idea to let a group of big corporation reps find a solution to a problem they're creating by putting toxic products out there in the first place. It's not like they're keen on absorbing the disposal costs, right?


Let's consider some options. On the one hand, when consumers pay a fee, one could argue that they are being encouraged to think about the environmental impact of common household products and make responsible decisions around such purchases. Besides, only those who buy these items are penalized, while others who choose safer alternatives don't lose out. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like anyone was taking charge of the "educating the public" part of the equation, hence the confusion and uproar when people took a closer look at their receipts.

On the other hand, if manufacturers were held accountable for the safe disposal of the toxic products they create, they might feel more inclined to do the research necessary for developing healthier alternatives. And what goes around comes around: consumers looking to avoid toxins would be happy to buy these new, safer products, so the companies would profit from their efforts. The challenge is convincing the government to step in and force producers to carry the cost instead of passing them on to consumers, because an organization like Stewardship Ontario has no authority to do so.

I guess we'll have to see what happens in October. In the meantime, vote with your wallet! Stop in at your local natural food store - these days, in addition to organic produce, you'll also find environmentally safe products on their shelves. From shampoo to toilet cleaner to laundry detergent, we owe it to ourselves to choose healthier alternatives while we wait for the government to figure out what to do!